i'm so excited, i was feeding my platies/molly/shrimp/snail today, and surprise surprise, i saw a tiny little baby fish hiding under a leaf.

i was like oh my gosh, and my mom thought i was seeing things.
we took all the fish out and moved things around searching for the little thing, and for the life of us couldn't find him.
then i put everything back and decided i was dilusional, when my mom looked behind the house thing and saw two little babies just hanging out.

now i'm lost.

i can't take the babies out, they're all hidden under the gravel since i had no idea they had been born, i don't know how many there are, and i'm scared they won't get any food.

i moved their parents into another tank until they get a bit bigger and aren't in danger of being a midnight snack, but can anyone help me decide what to do? i don't know if i should attempt to move them or just let them be....

i'd rather just leave them in there and not endanger my first little fish babies, do you think they'll be all right?

Live-bearerfish fry are pretty hardy, they do have survive all by themselves by day one ya know (out in the wild). I suggest you get a breeding net from wally world, you just stick it on the side and let the babies grow in there. Just make sure you get them all, don't fret if theres only 2, as some moms only give a couple of babies when they first get pregnant.

Good luck with your babies!

thanks for replying =]

there are two-four babies, i wasn't sure if the fish had eaten some of the babies are if that was the normal number for the first batch of babies.

i'm afraid to round them all up, they're hiding pretty well under the gravel, but then again i'm afraid to change the water because of the splash of the water against the gravel when i re-fill the tank. also, i can't gravel vacuum because of the babies, will they end up coming to the top to eat or just eat off the bottom?

They usually hang around the entire tank space, more so on the top when they're smaller, and when they are a little older (like my mollie fry) hang around the center of the aquarium. Just scoop up the fish into a breeding net, and don't put your adult fish in there until your condfident you know they'll all there. Also, check the filter for any babies too.

Babies are so exciting!

ha i know, i'm super excited.




i have been checking the filter (i haven't been able to get a sponge one, there are like, <u>none</u> around where i live, so i'm constantly checking the filter for my babies) and so far, so good with that.

when should they start eating regular foods? like, when do their yolk sacks get used up? i tried a bit today and the one at the tried to eat some but then spit it back out, is that normal?

sorry for all the questions, i'm just such a newbie at this.

I'd guess the yolk sacs stick around for just a little while. Maybe a few days at most. To feed them I grind down regular fish food for them, like into a powder for them to eat. It iisn't such of a great diet, you could try baby brine shrimp when they get a little older.

P.S. I'm actually not sure if they are born with a yolk sac, because they are hatched within the mother fish. You could try to feed them a little bit of food, and if they don't eat it scoop it out before it gets all nasty.

Good luck, your doing great!

Oh and also, it might have spit out the food b/c he was either not hungry, or it was too big. Just make sure they get enough to eat, with pretty much perfect water conditions for optimal growth etc.

i ground the food up into tiny tiny pieces, i'm just worried that the ones that are hiding under the gravel aren't going to get anything to eat. the one at the top nibbled on some so i'm not as worried about him.

i'll get pics when i can, they're just sooo tiny.

but super cute lol. they're super yellow colored, which i guess is the normal color from what i've read, but they have the parent's unique black colored tales which is pretty neat.

here's a pic of one hiding in the grass: http://xemptybrkneyesx.pictiger.com/images/14218688/

and one of my snail, just cause i thought he looked pretty lol : http://xemptybrkneyesx.pictiger.com/images/14218716/


haha. i got so excited today because they pooped.

i was like this